Global warming could collapse the Atlantic circulation system
Source: https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-could-collapse-the-atlantic-circulation-system/
Author: Andrei Ionescu
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a vast system of ocean currents which carry warm water from the tropics into the North Atlantic ocean and transport cold water from the northern to the southern hemisphere, thus playing a major role in the regulation of the Earth’s climate. In recent decades, monitoring of AMOC has shown evidence that it is once more weakening due to three main reasons: the intensification of rainfall at high latitudes; the melting of the ice cap over Greenland; and the warming of the Earth’s surface. The massive volume of fresh water added by the melting of the icebergs changed the composition of the ocean at the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere, which had a tremendous impact on the global climate. According to the experts, all three causes are associated with greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities. The new findings regarding AMOC’s collapse in the past suggest that the current weaker AMOC will cause anomalous subsurface warming at high latitudes, which could melt glaciers in Greenland, ultimately leading to another AMOC collapse and thus exacerbating the current climate crisis.